Auction system supporting elastic auctions

Abstract

A method and system for conducting auctions of multiple lots of items is provided. An auction system allows sponsors to set up auctions for the sale of one or more lots. The auction system allows considerable flexibility to a sponsor in defining how the auction should be conducted. An auction can be cyclical in that an auction for lots of a certain type is conducted on a cyclical basis so that sellers and buyers can prepare for the auctions. An auction can have the bidding on the lots of an auction terminate sequentially or terminate simultaneously. An auction can also be a direct auction or a reverse auction. An auction can be conducted completely online or have a combination of a live audience and a non-live audience.

1 . A method in a computer system for conducting an elastic auction, the method comprising:
 creating an auction specifying a quantity of items to be auctioned as a fractionated lot;   while the auction is open,
 receiving bids from bidders, each bid specifying a fraction of the quantity of items of the fractionated lot and a bid amount; 
 receiving modifications to bids that can withdraw the bid, increase or decrease the fraction of the bid, and raise or lower the bid amount of a bid; and 
 presenting each bid to each bidder; and 
   when the auction closes, designating as winning bids those bids pending at the time closing whose fractions total not more than the quantity of items in the fractionated lot.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the elastic auction is a direct auction and the winning bids have the highest bid amounts. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the items of the fractionated lot are not identical and the bidders of the winning bids choose items of the fractionated lot in bid amount order. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the elastic auction is a reverse auction and the winning bids have the lowest bid amounts. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein a bidder can have multiple bids pending at the elastic auction at the same time. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the elastic auction can have multiple lots. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the bidding on the multiple lots can be specified to close simultaneously. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the bidding on the multiple lots can be specified to close sequentially. 
     
     
         9 . A method in an auction system of conducting an auction, the method comprising:
 receiving a specification of items to be auctioned in multiple lots;   receiving from bidders bids that specify a lot of the items and a bid for a fraction of the items;   allowing bidders to modify their pending bids by raising, lowering, or withdrawing their bids;   allowing bidders to view the pending bids of other bidders; and   upon termination of the auction,
 for each lot,
 identifying pending bids for up to a certain quantity of items as winning bids; and 
 establishing a contract for each winning bid at a contract price that is derived from the prices of the winning bids. 
 
   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the items are to be sold by the bidders. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the items are to be purchased by the bidders. 
     
     
         12 . A computing device for controlling an elastic auction, comprising:
 a component that creates an auction that specifies a lot with a quantity of items to be auctioned by a sponsor;   a component that receives from bidders bid submissions, bid withrawals, and bid modications, such that a bid submission specifies a bid amount, a bid withdrawal specifies to withdraw a previously submitted bid, and a bid modification specifies to raise or lower the bid amount of a previously submitted bid; and   a component that, upon termination of the auction, identifies the submitted bid with the highest that was not withdrawn as the winning bid.   
     
     
         13 . The computing device of  claim 12  wherein the lot is a fractionated lot and a bid submission specifies a fraction of the fractionated lot. 
     
     
         14 . The computing device of  claim 13  wherein multiple bids are identified as being winning bids whose combined fractions do not exceed the quantity of the lot. 
     
     
         15 . The computing device of  claim 14  wherein the winning bidders select items of the fractionated lot in order of their bid amounts. 
     
     
         16 . The computing device of  claim 12  wherein the auction is a reverse auction in which the bidders sell the items to the sponsor. 
     
     
         17 . The computing device of  claim 12  wherein the auction is a direct auction in which bidders buy the items from the sponsor.